I currently have Samsung Galaxy S2 (I777) which I upgraded in September 2011,so I wanted to trade that in to get new HTC one 4G. Since I am eligible for an upgrade, HTC one is priced at $199 with 2 year contract. The trade-in value of Galaxy S2 came out to be $100. So ideally I thought I am supposed get to HTC one for $99. That is exactly what announcement says.

But reality was vastly different. Store representatives told me that value of the trade-in cannot be used towards HTC one upgrade. Instead they can give me a store credit which can be used ONLY for buying accessories. It cannot even be applied to my monthly wireless charges. That means I have to pay $199 for HTC one and I get $100 to buy worthless accessories.

This is utterly ridicoulous. Store representatives told that they had tried applying the trade-in store credit to upgrade to newer smartphones for other customers through out the day and it didn't work. What I don't understand is how can a widely publisized offer like this can not really be supported at AT & T stores.

After being a loyal AT&T customer for over four years now, I am extremely disappointed and frustrated by today's experience. All I want to say is if AT&T cannot ensure to make offers available,it should not advertize them.

I currently have Samsung Galaxy S2 (I777) which I upgraded in September 2011,so I wanted to trade that in to get new HTC one 4G. Since I am eligible for an upgrade, HTC one is priced at $199 with 2 year contract. The trade-in value of Galaxy S2 came out to be $100. So ideally I thought I am supposed get to HTC one for $99. That is exactly what announcement says.

But reality was vastly different. Store representatives told me that value of the trade-in cannot be used towards HTC one upgrade. Instead they can give me a store credit which can be used ONLY for buying accessories. It cannot even be applied to my monthly wireless charges. That means I have to pay $199 for HTC one and I get $100 to buy worthless accessories.

This is utterly ridicoulous. Store representatives told that they had tried applying the trade-in store credit to upgrade to newer smartphones for other customers through out the day and it didn't work. What I don't understand is how can a widely publisized offer like this can not really be supported at AT & T stores.

After being a loyal AT&T customer for over four years now, I am extremely disappointed and frustrated by today's experience. All I want to say is if AT&T cannot ensure to make offers available,it should not advertize them.

suspect there might be a miscommunication on the store side, if I recall correctly that was th old program, the new one just started on the 1st, the employees may have not been aware of it. Not defending the store personnel, if this is the true issue then the manager of the store dropped the ball in training his people and keeping them informed of the new programs. Might want to try a different store or print out the new program and the link and go back

Re: Cannot upgrade to HTC one using new AT&T trade-in offer

Welcome to the Community @sponkshe, and thank you for your post. I'm sorry your transaction did not go as it should have.

The offer details are:

For a limited time, trade in an existing smartphone and receive instant credit (minimum $100 value) towards a new device, or receive an AT&T Promotion Card once the trade-in is received.

Requirements:

The trade-in must be a smartphone that was purchased by the customer within the last three years.

The smartphone trade-in must be in good working and physical condition to be eligible for the minimum $100 value

We welcome the opportunity to correct this for you. Can you please send me a Private Message (blue envelope, top right) with your full name, contact phone number and account number? We will get this resolved for you.

Thanks again for posting, and giving us the opportunity to rectify the situation.

ATTJulieCS

Julie Rae

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Re: Cannot upgrade to HTC one using new AT&T trade-in offer

[ Edited ]

Well it's not an exact same issue The offer comes from out trade in partner, Flip Swap, all the reps do is enter your phone's info into their system then Flip Swap comes back with the offer, with that said, it's either your phone older than 3 years (and I think the model was released 2 years ago, so unlikely) or there is something about it that disqualifies it from the offer. I'm sorry I can't provide any more help.

Re: Cannot upgrade to HTC one using new AT&T trade-in offer

If you're not upgrade eligible but still want to trade-in a device, you can use the gift card that you will receive to pay your phone bill. That way, you can set aside the money that you would have used to pay your bill to save for when you are upgrade eligible.

Re: Cannot upgrade to HTC one using new AT&T trade-in offer

Yesterday, I visited my local AT&T Store and traded in my previous Sprint HTC EVO 4G LTE phone for credit on my account. The trade in value was $77, but they rounded it up to $100. I think it was a promotion, since I noticed that the AT&T Trade-Up web site also showed $100 for my EVO phone. I also had two Verizon Palm Pre Smartphones (developer editions) which were a few years old gathering dust in my desk, so I checked the AT&T web site and sure enough they showed having a $100 trade in value for each one! So, I headed down to my local AT&T Store again and traded both phone in for additional store credit. As such, I now have $300 credit on my AT&T account.

If you have any old phones laying around that you want to trade in (and aren't too, too old), you can check the AT&T Trade-Up web site to determine their value. I think it is a limited time offer, so check soon, and good luck!

Re: Cannot upgrade to HTC one using new AT&T trade-in offer

Yesterday I traded in a two year old iPhone 4s and got $200 towards a new 4s and AppleCare for my wife. I only had to pay $10 and change out of pocket for tax. The salesman told me they'll take any phone in good condition in trade, they just need to enter information about the phone to get the value.

Re: Cannot upgrade to HTC one using new AT&T trade-in offer

I traded in my old Android phone (2 years old.. came available for upgrade earlier this month) on Saturday. I was offered only $40 for it. The reason.. I wanted an iPhone 5. I was told that "your phone is only eligible for $40 toward the purchase of the iPhone 5, if you want to get a Galaxy S4 or other Android phone we would give you $100". That's not how the offer is worded at all on any of the AT&T websites I've seen. Not to mention that when I told the guy that was unfair, but to do it anyway because I was sick of Android (I switched to Android 2 years ago and have hated it ever since), I found out after paying almost $200 for the upgrade total that I was charged $20 as an "upgrade fee". So they actually gave me $20 for my old phone.

Don't get me wrong, I am so happy to be back on an iPhone that I really don't care so much at this point, but buyer beware, this deal isn't as sweet as it sounds. I think some AT&T authorized retailers may (read: might.. I don't know this for sure) be taking advantage of some people. After the upgrade I went home and called an AT&T store that was 50 miles away from me, asked them how much I would have got for my old phone and they swore it would be $100 toward an iPhone 5. I'm not about to take it back though, it would cost me a re-stocking fee to do so at this point.

Moral of this story is, if you are in fact wanting an iPhone 5, call the store first to make sure they will take your trade-in at the full $100 value because some won't. The better option would be to pay the full upgrade price for a new iPhone, and then sell your old smartphone on eBay. You'll get more money for it.

And for those of you trading in an iPhone 4 or 4s for $100 don't be silly. Those go for MUCH more on eBay. Pay the upgrade cost in full and sell yours on eBay unlocked. You'll probably end up with $300 in your pocket or more. I did not take my own advice. I was short on time, sick of my current phone, and honestly just took the $20 ($40 before the hidden fees) and walked out with a much better phone.

Re: Cannot upgrade to HTC one using new AT&T trade-in offer

Update: After talking with the trade-in program people they tell me that not all AT&T stores participate in the promotion. The "at least $100" promotion is only covered by AT&T company stores. So when you do a store locator search on their website you have to click "details" on the store and make sure it says "Equipment Trade-in & Recycling Program" on their services. Wish I had known that before hand. The store I went to did indeed have a 'trade-in $100' program going on, but it was only for Android upgrades, not Apple products. So had I chosen a Galaxy S4 I would have indeed been given $100 trade-in. Which is actually kinda silly because I could have turned right back around and sold it on eBay for somewhere close to what an off-contract iPhone 5 would have cost me. But again.. I'd have been without a phone for a good period of time to do all that.

None of the sites I looked at that had details about the $100 trade-in promotion made the distinction between which stores were participating and which were not. So make sure you look for "Equipment Trade-in & Recycling Program" on the store details before you attempt the upgrade. Other AT&T stores may tell you they participate but half way through the trade-in you may get told otherwise which is what happened to me. I accepted the trade-in because I had already gone through the process and wasted the time to go there (I usually do upgrades on the web) and wanted to be rid of Android so badly (had hated it for 2 years).

Lesson learned that not all AT&T stores are created equal.

Funny thing is there is a 2nd AT&T retailer in my area which is flashing "half off" deals on their AT&T sign, I wonder if the same thing would have happened there had I used them (it kinda sounds like it might). I wonder if it would anger Apple to know that is happening? So fall back to "buyer beware". AT&T has been good to me for 6+ years, so I'm sure they'll either offer me a fix or take the time to educate their customers a bit more, or at the very least look into the retailers who are using the promo to lure in customers to force Android phones on them to get the discount. I won't be switching carriers any time soon because of it, but just wanted to let everyone know the outcome.

None of this means it's happening nation-wide either.. just that it happened to me. Once it's 100% resolved I may share the info with Apple (assuming they don't already read these boards). It makes no real sense to offer someone $100 trade-in on an upgrade to an Android phone and not on an Apple phone. In the end they cost about the same off-contract. Maybe Android manufacturers are offering better subsidizing terms to AT&T than Apple?